


when you were young (did you ever love somebody?)

by everylittlebreeze



Category: Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986), Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Confident Mike, Cute, Dustin the Great Buzzkill, Edge of Forever, Eleven | Jane Hopper Loves Mike Wheeler, F/M, Ferris Bueller's Day Off - Freeform, Fluff, Happy Ending, It Could Possibly Be Canon, Mike Wheeler Loves Eleven | Jane Hopper, No Angst, Plans For The Future, Teasing, The Dream Academy, This Writer Likes Tagging
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-09
Updated: 2020-07-09
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:40:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25158652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/everylittlebreeze/pseuds/everylittlebreeze
Summary: A joyful snapshot into the lives of El and Mike as they experience a normal day in Hawkins with the Party.Inspired by "Ferris Bueller's Day Off."
Relationships: Eleven | Jane Hopper & Mike Wheeler, Eleven | Jane Hopper/Mike Wheeler
Comments: 14
Kudos: 20





	when you were young (did you ever love somebody?)

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! So, "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" is my favorite movie, and every time I watch this particular scene, it always gives me major Mike and El vibes. I've been wanting to write a Mileven version for a while, and finally got around to it! With some added teasing, of course, because I saw my "post-Season 3 Mike & El ribbing each other" opportunity and went for it.
> 
> The dream is that one day, the Duffers will add a Ferris Bueller inspired Mileven scene, but we shall see what happens in Season 4. Credits are given in the end notes.
> 
> Just a short and sweet fic to brighten your day. I hope you enjoy!

“You knew what you were doing when you woke up this morning, didn’t you?” El asked Mike as they stood together with the late afternoon sun slowly setting around them. “Me? Nah,” Mike answered. He paused for a moment, gazing into her eyes, before leaning down to kiss her soundly. He checked her watch, that she stole from him earlier in the day, and his eyes widened. “I have to go.” Mike murmured. He pecked her on the lips again, quickly. “I’ll call you tonight,” Mike said as he jogged away, using his long legs to hop over the fence. “Okay,” she responded softly, before calling out, “I love you!” “I love you too!” Mike shouted back, as he jumped another fence at a sprint.

El paused, a smile quirking onto her lips. “He’s gonna marry me,” she whispered, out loud to no one in particular.

Earlier that day, the entire Party was out and about, traveling around Hawkins and being normal teenagers for once. They had gotten breakfast at an actual diner (where she had ordered waffles - obviously). They went to the Arcade, and Max excitedly taught her how to play Dig Dug. Then, they visited the newly rebuilt Starcourt to watch a movie, and afterwards, they ate way too much ice cream.

For once, El felt like she could actually experience life, and was completely at peace with the world. And, she knew that when she arrived back home, Hop would be there to welcome her.

When the day began winding down, Mike had the idea to hike to the quarry, where they sat near the edge, in the shade, watching the water lap softly against the rocks below.

While the others had gone on a nearby adventure to see who could find the most disgusting looking bug, Mike had sat down next to her, their legs touching, his arm stretched out behind her back, as they leaned against an old oak tree.

She gazed out over the water, and thought about all they’d been through. How she had used her powers to pull Mike back from his fall over the edge of this quarry, and how grateful she was to have been there to save him.

As Mike had assured her on that fateful day when El and the Byers family moved away, her powers were coming back. Slowly but surely, she could feel them tugging at her brain.

They weren’t at full strength yet, but they were getting there, and she worked on them every morning, starting with Coca Cola cans and moving to books, before cautiously lifting the furniture around her bright, yellow room.

While she had been watching the water, Mike had been watching her. He leaned in closer, wrapping his arms fully around her slim frame, and pulling her back against him.

She rested against his chest, feeling his curls brush her cheek as he his placed his chin atop her head.

“Marry me,” he whispered, completely out of the blue.

She whipped around to face him, and found his eyes shining.

“What?” El asked, incredulous.

“Will you marry me?” Mike asked, more confidently than she had ever heard him say anything before.

She stared back, eyes wide open.

His face dropped slightly at her lack of response.

“Not right now, of course,” he began to stumble. “Just, someday I want to marry you. And I really wanted to tell you that.” He paused for a brief moment, mouth quirking up at the corners. “Before you overheard me telling someone else and beat me to it.”

El gazed at him in shock, completely frozen, mouth dropped open slightly.

He leaned in to kiss her, a small smile still gracing his ever-expressive face.

She tried to respond in turn, she really, truly did, but her mind was whirring a thousand miles an hour.

Of course she wanted to marry him. She’d dreamed about it before. Every time she’d even so much as thought about their future, it had given her so much hope, and about a million butterflies in her stomach. She saw herself in a beautiful white dress, and Mike in a tuxedo, his wild hair unable to be tamed atop his head. She saw Hopper walking her down the aisle, Joyce sobbing in the front row, and the entire party as groomsmen, with Max as her maid of honor. She saw curly haired children with her nose and Mike’s eyes. She saw a house with an extremely cliche white picket fence. She saw them growing old together, with no danger in sight.

A few moments later, El realized that she was still completely frozen, and Mike, who was usually always able to distract her from any of her overwhelming thoughts, had pulled away from her in confusion. She saw the fear in his eyes, and read his mind perfectly, as she always could. “Did I go too far?” Mike was asking himself in this moment.

Suddenly, she surged forward, kissing him with blazing fervor, pouring all of her emotions into that one kiss. Slowly, she felt his confidence returning as he kissed her back with just as much passion. She broke away, pressing their foreheads together just like at the Snowball. Even then, she had known for certain the answer to his question.

“Yes,” she whispered. “Yes, I’ll marry you. Someday.”

She looked up to see an expression on Mike’s face that could only be described as pure joy, before it was broken by a telltale shriek from the nearby trees.

“Get a room!” Dustin yelled, as he stomped back towards them. “Preferably far, far away from here,” he added.

Dustin was promptly ignored as she glanced back up at Mike, a mischievous smirk on her face.

“Hey, at least I responded to your marriage declaration,” El quipped, pursing her lips into a silly expression in an attempt to keep her laughter at bay.

Mike rolled his eyes before peering deep into her own.

“I apologize that my brain short-circuited because the most beautiful girl on the planet told me that she loved me too,” he said, his hands coming up to rub the back of her forearms softly. “You’re never going to let me live that down, are you?”

“Nope,” she replied softly, leaning in to kiss him once again, but stopping just short of his lips.

She looked up at the gorgeous constellation of freckles across his face and murmured, “I plan on giving you a hard time about that for the rest of our lives.”

A huge smile broke out across his face. “Good,” he answered with conviction, eyes twinkling, before moving up to press his lips against her forehead.

As El walked home and reminisced on her perfect day, she didn’t have to glance behind her as she walked, or be terrified of inter-dimensional monsters. Instead, she had no fear of the future. Even though she had just left her sweet Mike behind, she knew they would never be separated for long. When she got home, she would have her family waiting for her, and one day, she would be able to marry her best friend, and the love of her life.

**Author's Note:**

> All credit to that wonderful Ferris & Sloane scene in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" for the first two paragraphs. The rest of this fic was inspired by Ferris' marriage proposal scene with an incredulous Sloane, also in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off."
> 
> Title credit to "The Dream Academy" from their song "Edge of Forever," which plays during this lovely scene where Ferris and Sloane say "I love you" to each other at the end of the movie!
> 
> And, of course, credit to the Duffer Brothers, and all the Stranger Things writers, for Mike, El, and the rest of the characters in this story.
> 
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> ~everylittlebreeze


End file.
